BushCo Has A "Tell"by Allen Snyderwww.dissidentvoice.org
April 8, 2004

In
poker-speak, a "tell" is an unconscious habit some players exhibit that lets
anybody in the know read that player like a cheap dime novel. Maybe it’s a
scratch on the ear, a twirl of the hair, a twist of the ring, or the
drumming of the fingers, but whatever it is, the habit "tells" everyone that
you’re lying or bluffing.

High-stakes political poker
is a rough game and each side’s always looking out for something that’ll
give the opposition away ­ their political "tell". Knowing when the other
guy’s full of crap, pulling a fast one, or talking out his ass is
invaluable. If you see the "tell", it’s safe to call the bluff, make him
show his cards, expose him as a fraud and a liar.

The executives at BushCo
have a "tell". You’d think as refined as they are in the dubious art of
widespread public deception and propaganda foisting, their "tell" would be
hard to spot, requiring months of careful observation, insight, and
attention to every detail of the not-so-subtle lies rolling from the tongues
of Dick, Scott, Condi, Rummy, Powell, and Dubya himself.

But in fact, theirs is the
easiest "tell" of all. It’s used by Presidential Administrations and
mischievous children of all ages and is one of the less mature and noble
attitudes we adopt when we’re confronted with accusations, allegations, or
facts that are unpleasant, uncomfortable, or just plain make us look bad.

In true hawk/warmonger
fashion, I call BushCo’s political "tell" The Proportional Response or TPR.
You’re probably familiar with this phrase from a Schwarzenegger movie where
they talk about retaliating for some violent attack with a proportional
response. It means that if somebody blows up something of yours, you respond
by blowing up something of theirs.

That’s the response part.

The proportional part means
you don’t blow up something so relatively small that it doesn’t get the
message across, and not something so relatively big it seems like revenge.
Tit for tat. Like for like, with a little extra thrown in for good measure.
That’s the proportional response.

When BushCo gets attacked,
winged, or wounded (usually by those pesky whistleblowers with their
bookloads of facts), they too have to respond.

It’s supposed to be
proportional; a shot across the bow for the milder cases and a "shock and
awe" campaign of orchestrated character assassination for the really
dangerous boat-rockers.

We’ve seen BushCo use TPR
many times, so let’s call it what it really is - proof positive that BushCo
is spreading lots of manure on the truth in the hope that, in its place,
something wonderful and convincing will grow.

TPR can even be expressed
in the form of a simple principle:

The truth of any given
political accusation, allegation, or charge is directly proportional to the
ferocity, vehemence, and shrillness of BushCo’s response to it. In other
words, the louder they yell, the truer the claim.

Their latest involves the
scathing attack on BushCo by Richard Clark, former anti-terror big-wig.
Among other unsurprising things, Clarke relates with blistering candor how
BushCo was so obsessed with Iraq and Saddam they completely dropped the ball
on terror, their disinterest ultimately setting the stage for the
preventable 9/11 attacks.

Clarke relates how, for
various political reasons, BushCo consistently trivialized the terrorist
threat prior to 9/11 and have done little to nothing since to improve
national security. In fact, they’ve made us less safe by diverting badly
needed military forces to the misguided and failing oil crusade in Iraq.

BushCo immediately began
attacking Clarke’s loyalty, sanity, and credibility (as if they have no
problems there!), much the same way they trashed Paul O’Neill when the
former Treasury Secretary went public about a similar lack of focus inside
the Cheney White House. Unlike O’Neill, who was quickly cowed into
submission (the bow shot worked), Clarke’s "Bring It On!" attitude has
BushCo scrambling to get its stories straight. The more Clarke holds his
cards and further details of their criminal incompetence and complicity
emerge, the louder BushCo screams. It’s TPR in action.

Fortunately, Clarke has a
winning hand (the truth) and a good poker face.

He knows a ‘tell’ when he
sees it and he’s not afraid to call BushCo’s hand. For instance, when the
GOP started whining about declassifying Clarke’s earlier and allegedly
contradictory testimony, rather than fold, Clarke raised the pot, demanding
not some, but all, of his previous statements be released, lest there be any
misunderstanding.

Clarke’s case shows it’s
possible to survive BushCo’s withering personal attacks intact. Hopefully,
his courage will inspire others (and believe me, there are others) to come
forward and expose BushCo’s illegal criminal activities. And when the
inevitable Proportional Response from BushCo comes, we’ll all know from its
vigor whether or not the accusations are true.

Allen Snyder
is an instructor of Philosophy and Ethics. He can be reached at
asnyder111@hotmail.com. This article is copyright by Allen Snyder but
permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so
long as this credit is attached.